The mergers and acquisitions
frenzy continues in the UK gambling industry like no where else on the planet.
In the last few years there have been takeovers and mergers in the UK gambling
sector than in any other country. So why is this happening here, or is this
just the most advanced and regulated gambling economy and its the vanguard for
the rest to follow?

Operators are looking to scale up because the cost
of the new point of sale tax (PoS), introduced by the UK Gambling Commission in
2016, the cost of compliance to regulators and the endless need to invest in
technology are all on the rise. And they are taking the view that being bigger
will offset these costs which in some part is true.

According to the
Gambling Commission revenue in the UK gambling industry in 2010 was
£5.6bn and for the year to March 2016 it was £8.8bn excluding the
National Lottery. This represents a 57% increase with no signs of this slowing
down. What the commission also said though was that £4.5bn came from
online gambling, making it the largest sector and the only one growing the
figures.

So mergers like the one between
Coral and Ladbrokes, two of the oldest in the business, doesn't make so much
sense when the competition is very strong within the Online Casinos business with operators
based anywhere in the world competing with these traditionals. They have become
the largest bookmaker in the UK, overtaking William Hill, but together they are
a small part of the online business, even within the UK.

The 2011 tie-up
between Paddy Power and Betfair made more sense as they had different pools of
customers and most of them were online and thus expanding the product range on
offer from both portals.

Competition is good for customers and playing
in the UK you have the added knowledge that the Gambling Commission is the
leader in world gambling regulation. So finding the Best UK Online
Casinos is made easier when the license is easy to check and players
are protected from fraudulent and unfair activities.

The opposite seems to be the case down under in Australia.
Not only are Tatts and Tabcorp about to merge into a giant A$11bn near monopoly
of Australian gambling but the Oz government seems hell-bent on regulating all
non Australian competitors out of the market. The only possible hurdle left to
the merger comes on 9th March when the national competition regulator decides
whether it can go ahead.

Luckily for us in Europe the European
Commission tries to ensure that where ever you are based within the Community
you can offer your product to anyone in any of the other EU countries. That
hasn't worked everywhere just yet as several governments, like Germany and
Sweden, have laws trying to protect state monopolies that they run and tax. The
European Court of Justice has ruled multiple times against both countries for
their stance on closed borders and things are slowly changing, though both
governments are dragging their feet as hard as possible.

What makes the
most sense in the merger and take-over business is established businesses, like
William Hill, buying out digital gaming software companies, such as it did in
August 2016 when taking over Grand Parade Ltd for £14m. More of this
would make sense . Indeed William Hill had already bought Playtech out of their
joint venture and tried to but 888 so that they could get their hands on
proprietary software which is where all the costs and profits are. They failed
and are now trying to sell themselves to someone with enough money to make such
a purchase possible.

Most analysts expect that consolidation in the
gambling industry will continue with large conglomerates coming to dominate the
industry but small and specialist companies which focus on niche markets will
thrive as new products, like the ever expanding eSports gambling world, will
continue to emerge.